


North to the Future

by ScotlandEvander



Series: Various States [7]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (2012), The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alaska, Fluff and Angst, Gen, M/M, Steve Has Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-06
Updated: 2013-08-06
Packaged: 2017-12-22 15:41:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/914989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScotlandEvander/pseuds/ScotlandEvander
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki wasn't sure which was more strange: Anchorage, Alaska or the fact he kind of liked it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	North to the Future

**Disclaimer: If you know it, I fail to own it.**

* * *

_Maybe the songs that we sing are wrong / Maybe the dreams that we dream are gone / So bring it on home and it won’t be long_

_-Oasis, “It’s Getting Better (Man!)”_

* * *

Anchorage, Alaska was like no place Loki had visited. He’d traveled the Nine Realms and never found another place that as such an odd blend of broken down, built up, ugly, beautiful and mismatched, old and new, rustic and modern. The people were just as mixed up and mashed up as the surroundings. There were people dressed fashionably, people who looked like they rolled out of bed and forgot what century they were in, people who clearly got dressed in the dark, and finally people who clearly had not left Alaska and had no idea what one actually wore in the winter. 

Standing on the corner of Fifth and C Street, Loki felt he was standing in another world rather than in a downtown metropolitan area on Midgard.  A small smile graced his lips as he took a deep breath. The chill in the air, the smell of cold on the cutting wind blended with the smells of civilization mixed together and made Loki feel comfortable within his own skin. 

No wonder Jess had chosen this place out of the thousands of other cold places she could have resided. 

“Lo!”

Loki turned and smiled upon seeing Jess barreling across the street to meet him. (She had embraced some Alaska fashion, due to the fact she wore no coat. Loki had a jacket on and he as a freaking Frost Giant.) She threw her arms around him and hugged him tight. Loki hugged her back just has hard. In the deep recesses of his mind he had been worried he would not be greeted warmly as it was completely his fault Jess’s life was in the state it was in.

“Stop blaming yourself, Lo,” Jess said, pulling away from him and holding him at arm’s length. She swept her eyes up and down, a smile lighting up her face. “You look good, Loki. Really good. Guess Midgard’s agreeing with you.”

Loki gave her a look and popped the collar up on his jacket. “I thought you said it was warm.”

“It is warm,” Jess insisted. 

Loki eyed the piles of snow as the wind whipped around the downtown, sending a fresh burst of frigid air into his face. 

“Okay, it’s warm for Alaska in late March,” she corrected. “You should be fine, though.”

“I am not cold. Steven is another story,” Loki admitted.

“Ah, so that’s how you swung this trip, huh? Hitched a ride with Captain America when he hit up jay bear,” Jess chuckled. 

“Jay Bear?” Loki inquired. 

“Joint Base Elmendorf Fort Richardson. JBER.”

“There is no ‘F’ in that acronym.”

“I didn’t make it. That’s what they call it. JBER. I guess that is where Steve currently is, right?”

She looked around for Steve. 

“Correct. Steven is currently being Captain America,” Loki replied. 

“Oh, so you couldn’t go even if you could get on base,” Jess realized, hooking her arm through his and leading him down the street. “That sucks. Well, let Steve know he can join us after he’s done Captain America and he can be Steve Rogers, love of Loki’s life again.”

Loki gave Jess an exasperated look. Jess beamed at him and began to babble about the area, telling him about the mall across the street from them, the jewelry shop,  and the various tiny restaurants they were passing. She came to a stop in front of a glass fronted salon and turned him to face the inside. 

“This is where I work. It’ll be awhile till I’m a full on stylist,” she said. “I’ve got a lot of hours to put in, but I do makeup and I get to wash hair sometimes. Don’t tell anyone, but I like washing hair.”

She put her finger to her lips to shhhh him. They were both about to move on when a young woman within the salon began waving frantically at Jess.

“Blast. Spotted. Might as well introduce you to them,” Jess said, flinging the door open. “They were all totally curious why I wanted a day off.” 

Loki walked into the salon and wasn’t greeted by the harsh smell of chemicals. Instead, it smelled earthy and herbal. The music pumping through the salon wasn’t overly loud or annoying, but rather calm inducing. 

“Who is this?” the girl behind the counter asked. She eyed Loki as many females on Midgard tended to eye him. 

“This is Loki Laufey-Odinson,” Jess introduced. “I knew him back in Texas.”

“That’s a mouthful of a name,” the girl muttered. She extended her hand over the counter. “I’m Tara.”

“Charmed,” Loki said, kissing her hand before dropping it.

“He’s British!” the girl squealed.

“Who’s British.”

“Jess’s mysterious man!”

Loki was soon surrounded by females, all asking him odd questions about his skin, his hair and his clothing. 

* * *

_Used to live alone in a tomb I made my own / But now I’ve gone and given up my coat_   


_-Ingrid Michaelson, “Keep Warm”_

* * *

Steve finished up his duties as Captain America, shed his uniform and changed into more comfortable and warmer clothing. He got back into the car SHEILD had provided and after checking the map a few more times, felt brave enough to drive off base. 

Military bases had changed since Steve had last visited them. For one, the base in Anchorage was huge and everything looked the same, hence why it took Steve a few tries to actually find an exit point. Once he was off base, navigating the streets of Anchorage was easy. The city was mostly on a grid system, and there were only a few main roads and they were all clearly labeled. 

Ten minutes after he’d finally exited the military base, Steve pulled the car into the parking garage he’d left Loki standing outside a few hours before. He pulled out his cell phone and verified the address Loki had sent telling him to meet him at Cafe Paris on 5th Avenue. After checking the map one last time, Steve headed out of the parking garage and down 5th Avenue. He made slow progress due to the strong, biting cold wind that was blowing right at him. He had his head bowed and only looked up when he noticed the store front change. He was hoping he was getting close to the restaurant when he walked by a glass fronted salon filled with gawking women. As Steve passed, the door swung open and he heard, “If that guy is also here to see Jess, I’m going to seriously consider moving to Texas.” 

Steve turned that information over in his mind. He knew Jess was in Alaska, he just wasn’t aware of where in Alaska. What were the odds the real reason Loki wished to join Steve for this dancing monkey trip wasn’t because he was dying to get out of New York, but in fact had organized a meeting with Jess?  

Steve reached the restaurant and paused outside the doors, debating on if he ought to just go on or if he ought to let Loki know he was here. He shifted back and forth on his heels for a moment before flinging the door open and entering the dark restaurant. After allowing his eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness (it was really sunny outside), he easily spotted Loki sitting in a booth along the wall with a purple headed woman, who Steve guessed was Jess. Steve smiled and pointed to indicate to the waitress with the menus he saw the party he was looking for and started towards the pair. 

“So, you are truly happy here?”

“Yeah, Lo. I realized I was at the wrong college shortly after I got there,” Jess said, tearing apart the sandwich on her plate. “I love hair, makeup and all that jazz. I mean, look at me!” 

Steve paused, wanting to hear the pair talk freely. Steve hadn’t realized how dead and zombie like Jess had become after she’d woken up on Asgard, but seeing her now (even if it was just the back of her head) radiating with excitement, Steve had to agree with Clint this was the best move for her. 

“But…isn’t this what you were doing before?”

“No! I was hawking makeup! I just put it on people now and after I complete my training, I’ll be doing hair,” Jess said, glee evident in her tone. “I love hair. And you saw where I’ll be working. They’ve got a chair waiting for me.”

Loki nodded his head, staring into the depths of the tea cup in front of him. 

“Jessica…I…”

“If you try to apologize again, I will punch you and you will feel the thunder in your nose,” Jess said, a teasing edge to her voice yet Steve knew she was serious. 

Loki’s mouth tightened and he looked up, pinning Jess with those terre verte eyes. In the dim light, Steve could not see the wide array of greens that made up those eyes he so dearly adored, but he could see the tension and pain in them. 

“Jessica, it’s my fault.”

“No regrets, Loki Laufey-Odinson. No regrets. Remember when I told you that I felt out of place my whole life? Remember? I don’t feel out of place here. Not once. And here…I’ve found my people. You met them! They are just as weird as I am and this whole city…god, it’s brilliant. It’s a mixture of rednecks, hippies, old military people and everyone in between. And wait till you see the adorable townhouse I’m living in. It’s totally me! It’s got a dark purple door and the place is green!”

Steve watched Loki’s face carefully to see his reaction to her announcement. While Steve had thought he had a handle on Loki before, the last two weeks had shown Steve new facets of Loki. He felt closer to the man now than he’d had after he had left Asgard. Steve was comfortable in stating Loki still felt horribly guilty for the trials Jess had suffered since she’s arrived on Midgard, even seeing how pleased she was and seemingly flourishing in her new environment.

And he always would. Loki would carry that guilt around like a sack of coal. 

“Steven,” Loki said, suddenly realizing Steve was standing in the shadows near the table. 

Loki’s whole being shifted upon spotting Steve. Steve hated to call it “perking up”, but he couldn’t think of a better way to describe the change. 

“Hey. Mind if I join you?”

“Steve!” Jess squealed, shooting to her feet. 

Steve was relieved she was happy to see him and not upset with Loki for telling Steve where he was, thus letting Steve know where she was. 

Jess threw her arms around Steve’s neck and swung from his neck in her attempt to fully hug him. Steve grabbed onto her before she managed to hurt herself. Loki hid a grin behind his hand, which prompted Steve to realize he was holding Jess by her waist and her feet weren’t touching the ground. Steve bent forward and set her on the ground. Jess released him from the hug and bounced up and down, smiling largely and shouted, “Sit! Sit! Tell me all about everything you two are doing!”

Steve felt his cheeks heat up and he was glad for the dim lighting of the cafe. Loki scooted over and patted the now open space next to him. Steve slid into the booth as Jess got back into her own side. 

“We’ve already got our food,” Jess said, indicating to her plate filled with torn up sandwich. “But feel free to order when the waitress returns. And she will return.”

Loki sighed, leaning into Steve’s personal space. “Do try to look not so adorable. I don’t want to loose a fan to you.” 

“Er…”

What was he talking about? 

“Did you walk passed the salon?” Jess asked. 

“Uh…”

“Yes, he likely did as it’s the most direct route from the parking garage to here,” Loki said, straightening up.

“Oh, I bet that made their day,” Jess giggled. “They were big Loki fans. Just like the entire female population on Other Earth.” 

Loki scowled. “Those were Hiddleston fans. Not mine.”

“Oh, no, they were fans of Loki,” Jess assured. “Did you miss the whole Comic-Con thing?”

Loki glowered.

“Comic what?” Steve asked, looking between the two. 

“During the time Loki was hanging out on Other Earth, Comic-Con took place. They’ve got it here. But, anyways, since _Thor 2_ was coming out in the fall, Hiddleston was there to promote it. He snuck into San Diego dressed as a _Star Wars_ character, dressed up as Loki and gave the entire audience who was there to see the new trailer a heart attack.”

Loki scoffed. “He did an abysmal job at staying in character.”

“He did not! He was awesome! He cosplayed himself!”

“ME! He was playing ME.”

Steve looked between the two, having a feeling they’d had this argument before. 

Jess folded her arms across her chest. “You’re the one who wouldn’t pop me out to San Diego to meet him. After you stalked him.”

“I did not stalk him.”

“Did too.”

“Did not.”

“Who is Hiddleston?”

“The guy who looks like Loki on Other Earth and played him in the movies,” Jess replied, turning her attention to Steve. “He’s got an army of fangirls. They are seriously kind of weird. Sometimes more so than Sherlockians.”

“Sherlockians are mad,” Loki whispered to Steve.

“What’s a Sherlockian?”

“Someone who’s a fan of the BBC show _Sherlock_ starring the man with the greatest, most British sounding name out there: Benedict Cumberbatch! He exists here and it’s awesome,” Jess insisted, smiling like a maniac. “Anyways, I told the girls in the salon Loki was gay, but that didn’t seem to hinder their interest.”

Steve flushed red, opening and closing his mouth a few times till it simply hung open. Loki reached up and tapped his jaw, making him snap it shut. 

“Do you want anything, Steven? Or did they feed you at the base?” Loki asked, looking unbothered by the fact Jess had told a bunch of strangers his— 

Oh. Loki wasn’t bothered at all. 

Steve, if possible, turned redder. “Uh, no. I’m…good.”

Loki quirked an eyebrow, pinning Steve in place with those absurd green eyes. “Are you sure?”

“Peachy keen.”

“No one says that any more. I’m not sure they said that in your time,” Jess laughed. 

“So, uh, you two get all caught up?” Steve asked, aware his voice was still a little high. 

“Yeah. Told him all about my life of makeup and hair and how brilliant my purple front door is!” Jess exclaimed.

Steve smiled, taking in the sheer joy radiating off of Jess. Under the table he rubbed his sweaty palms against his thighs till he felt a slightly chilled hand rest on top of his hands. He felt instantly calmed and embarrassed of his reaction. 

He had to stop thinking with his 1940s mores. 

Steve glanced at Loki out of the corner of his eye. Loki wore a mild expression, trying to hide the fact he was carrying around that sack of coal and getting somewhat tired with Steve’s reactions. Without glancing around to see if anyone was watching, Steve turned his hand over. Loki instantly wove his long fingers with Steve’s own stubby ones. Steve squeezed Loki’s hand, knowing it was hard for Loki to deal with everything Jess had been through in the last eight months. (Not to mention Steve’s issues…along with the demigod’s own.)

“So, you two wanna come over?” Jess asked. “I don’t have class tonight, so I can treat you to some fine Alaska dining. I’ve got reindeer sausage and some Alaska salmon that my neighbor gave me. She caught it last salmon run, but it’s been frozen so it’s still good. I put it in the fridge to thaw, hoping you two would join me.”

Jess smiled.

“Of course,” Loki said without consulting with Steve. 

“You eat reindeer?” Steve asked, staring at Jess.

Jess gave him a rather Loki-ish smirk. “Why, of course. I’ve gone native.” 

* * *

_When she was just a girl / She expected the world / But it flew away from her reach / So she ran away in her sleep_   


_-Coldplay, “Paradise”_

* * *

“So. How is she? Frozen? Bored stiff? Miserable? Confused? Coming home as soon as possible? Planning to make a bid for Senate? Writing the next, great American novel?” 

Tony shot off the questions rapidly and so quickly, Steve wasn’t sure if they were actual questions. 

“How did you get into my apartment? I know I locked the door,” Steve said, eyeing the man. “And why are you here?”

“To ask you how Jess is! I know you saw her! You took GQ with you to a Captain America thing at a military base!”

“What does Jess have to do with that?”  

Tony leveled Steve a look that normally would have made Steve’s skin crawl and cave into doing what Tony wanted just to make Tony go away. 

“You took your boyfriend with you for a Captain America thing,” Tony said slowly, enunciating each word. “You don’t take your boyfriend to a Captain America shindig.” 

Steve tried really hard not to blush at the “boyfriend” reference. While Fury didn’t give two shakes about Steve Roger’s personal life, he’d made it clear Captain America lacked any form of personal life that wasn’t the ideal apple pie kind of life. That meant not having a demigod as a boyfriend who once tried to take over the world. (As the wider world failed to know there’d been two Gods of Mischief running around at the time and only one of them was trying to subjugate the world.) 

Steve had a boyfriend.

He blinked several time, staring stupidly at Tony who huffed his annoyance, throwing his hands up in the air. 

“I know you two have been attached at the hip since Loki came down here for some good old fashion therapy— which is just bizarre, as aren’t Asgardians supposed to be ‘better’ than us?” Tony scoffed, using air quotes with his fingers. “Whatever. So, she’s in Alaska? Why the hell would she go there?”

“No idea,” Steve lied. 

Steve understood perfectly well why she had chosen Anchorage, Alaska as a place to settle down and live her life. 

“I will find her.”

“Tony, she wants to be left alone. If you really want to see how she’s doing, write her a letter,” Steve suggested. 

“A letter? No one writes letters anymore, gramps,” Tony snarled. “We email these days.”

Tony turned on his heel and stalked out. Steve stood up and went into his room, searched around for a moment till he found his cell phone. It took him a few moments to get his clumsy, too-large-for-the-screen fingers to work the thing right, but he eventually found the number he was looking for. It took a few more tries  before the contraption actually dialed and he listened to the thing as it connected and rung.

“Tony’s getting close.” 

“Damn.”

* * *

_‘Round the bend / The sun is in the sky / It’s starting to look like / It’s gonna be, yeah, it’s gonna be a bright, beautiful day_   


_-Aqualung, “Good Times Gonna Come”_

* * *

“Tony found me.”

“I’m sorry. I think he caught on when Steve made a trip to Alaska to speak to the troops,” Loki replied.

“Yeah. Steve warned me earlier today Tony was getting close to figuring it out. I guess he broke into Steve’s apartment to drill him. Tony didn’t show up, just sent me an email telling me he knew where I was,” Jess said. “So, I guess that’s good. I mean, I didn’t want to totally loose contact with Tony…he’s just a little much.”

“Understandable. He’s rather…”

“He’s an in your face kind of person,” Jess laughed. “I adore the man, I like him, but in tiny doses. And half the time I’ve got no clue what he’s talking about.”

“He’s rather rude,” Loki allowed.

Jess snorted. “Yeah, well, you two do get along.”

“Yes, I know. When he’s not mocking me for my choice of mates.”

“Mates? You’ve mated with Steve?”

There was a long drawn out silence over the phone line. 

“Loki?” 

“Mated no. It was the wrong choice of word. We’re…dating.”

Jess laughed. “Oh, good. Dating is a good thing, Loki. Steve’s not exactly a Don Juan.”

Loki thought for a moment, trying to remember who Don Juan happened to be. “No, I believe not. He’s quite…old fashion by today’s standards. And he…well, he’s…”

“Still dealing with the fact he’s from an era the type of relationship he’s having with you wasn’t the norm?”

“Yes. There is that as well,” Loki admitted, letting out a quiet sigh.

“But, you’re not getting frustrated with him? I get the feeling you’re not like my maternal grandfather and a Casanova getting it on with people and popping out strange children.” 

“No. I was…rather pedestrian like in my romantic endeavors,” Loki stiffly admitted.

“Nothing to be ashamed of, Lo,” Jess assured. “Well, I gotta go. Break’s over. Just wanted to let y’all know Tony’s hunted me down so now all ya all know where I’m hiding.”

“Did you think you could hide forever?”

“I hid for as long as I needed,” Jess admitted. “Tony was actually the last one to find me, so it’s all good. Natasha is currently living across the street spying on me, Bruce sent me an email about two hours after I got a new address set up, and you, Steve, and Clint were informed by myself where myself is currently located.”

Loki chuckled.

“And Nick Fury sent me to Alaska,” Jess finished. “He’s okay when he’s not being an angry elf.”

“Dear, he cannot be an elf. He’s much too tall.” 

* * *

_Build something, build a better place and call it home / Even if it means nothing, you’ll never, ever feel that you’re alone_

_-Oasis, “It’s Getting Better (Man!!)”_


End file.
